CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada's schools chief encountered a barrage of retorts from state lawmakers for suggesting class sizes shouldn't be high on their education priority list.

In a joint meeting Friday before legislative money panels, state Superintendent James Guthrie said effective teachers trump the issue of class size. He recommended instead that districts be given leeway to spend money to address their own needs.

That brought a flood of criticism from Democrats who are pushing to expand class size reduction and early learning funding statewide.

Gov. Brian Sandoval is recommending increasing funding for K-12 education by $135 million over the upcoming two years.

Democrats argue that's not enough given that more than $700 million has been cut over the past five years.